Upstream, oilfield service co's leaning heavily on shale, more news

-More than half of oilfield service companies and 40% of upstream companies expect to get the majority of their revenues from shale plays this year, according to a new survey by UHY LLP and the Oil & Gas Financial Journal. Companies in the midstream, downstream and integrated sectors expect to draw less than 25% of their revenues from shale oil and gas activity. Notably, only one out of six survey respondents believe their companies would be positively impacted by an increase in LNG or crude oil exports.

-Residents living near Valero’s refinery in Meraux, La., reported a loud sound and a large cloud of dust coming from the plant Monday morning. Valero officials said the incident was related to a problem with a heater in the refinery’s benzene unit. Via the New Orleans Times-Picayune, there was no explosion despite reports of backfire and smoke. No injuries were reported.

-Suncor Energykicked off four weeks of planned maintenance at its 137,000-barrels-per-day refinery in Montreal, Quebec.

-Advocates for petrochemicals and renewable fuels are in agreement that the EPA will revise upward its proposed Renewable Fuel Standard for 2014. Via Platts, a panel of representatives from various industries speaking at an industry conference on Monday said the agency would ultimately release an RFS higher than the 15.21 billion gallons it proposed last year. They agreed the surprisingly low proposal caused uncertainty that could be damaging to various markets.

-Meanwhile, the EPA today retroactively lowered the cellulosic biofuel blending volume requirement for 2013 as production fell well short of the agency’s projections. The EPA initially based its mandate on an estimated production volume of 6 million ethanol-equivalent gallons of cellulosic biofuel, but only 800,000 gallons were actually produced last year.